


Rainbow Bagels

by mathelode (engmaresh)



Category: Batgirl (Comics), DCU (Comics)
Genre: Bisexual Female Character, F/F, Female Character of Color, Fluff, Girls Kissing, Gotham being Gotham, Humor, Light Action, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-20
Updated: 2019-02-20
Packaged: 2019-10-21 04:29:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17636057
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/engmaresh/pseuds/mathelode
Summary: Rainbow bagels have finally come to Gotham, and Stephanie insists they have to try them right away. Of course, this being Gotham, a simple day out is never really quite a simple day out.





	Rainbow Bagels

**Author's Note:**

  * For [WierdAlienFantasies](https://archiveofourown.org/users/WierdAlienFantasies/gifts).



Rainbow bagels have finally come to Gotham, and Stephanie insists they have to try them right away. Right away for them however, never means immediately, or soon, or tonight, or whatever Cassandra has been told right away means. _Right away_ in this case, means three months later, after Cassandra’s arm is out of the cast, and Stephanie has passed her exams, and summer has come round again. Sunlight and warmth, even in Gotham, and Stephanie’s hand hot and damp in hers as they walk down the street.

Gotham is Gotham. Bruce says Gotham never does things halfway. So the rainbow bagels are gay now. Or so Stephanie says. There’s more than just rainbow colours, and they match flags too.

“I swear to god,” says Steph, when they walk into the store. It’s very bright, and very cheerful, and Cassandra has to blink a little, even after coming in from out of the sun.

“...dare shut them down,” Steph is saying.

“What?”

“I said I’ll fight anyone who dares shut them down,” Steph repeats. “Look!” she squees, releasing Cassandra’s hand to point at something behind the glass counter. “They have bi-bagels! Bigels!”

The bagel—bigel—has pink, purple and blue swirls. Cassandra watches as Steph walks over to the counter and requests “the purplest bigel you’ve got”, toasted, with Nutella and strawberries.

“Earth to Cass!”

“Oh!”

“What are you getting?”

“Um…” she looks at the bagels on display. They’re all very pretty, but maybe she’ll just take the rainbow. Then another catches her eye. “That one. The, uh, non-bi-bagelly?”

“Non-bagelly!” says the cheerful girl behind the counter. “What’s your spread?”

She gets cream-cheese. It’s easiest, and she likes cream-cheese. It turns out they have chives too, and she gets that sprinkled over the spread.

Minutes later, they’re walking out of the shop, bagels in hand. Cassandra brings hers to her face and inhales the warm, yeasty smell of toasted bread.

Stephanie’s already bitten into hers, and makes small noises of bliss around her mouthful. “Mmm so good.” There’s already a small Nutella smear at the corner of her mouth.

Cassandra takes a bite of her own. It’s bready. Underneath the creamy cheese spread and sharp bite of chives is a crunch, from the toasting. It’s a bagel. She’s had both better and worse, but for a bagel, for bread, she supposed it is good. The colours of hers interest her more. Of course together they mean something else to others, but she likes them because they’re also Batgirl and Spoiler colours.

“I really think they missed a prime punning opportunity here,” Steph is saying, dabbing at the corner of her mouth with her napkin. “‘Boutique Bagels’? Way too posh. Why not…‘Taste the Rainbow’! Or...wait I’ve got it!” She raises her finger dramatically. “‘Gay-gels!’ Nah, sounds too weird. ‘Gay-bels’!”

Cassandra tries the word out in her mouth. “Gay-bel.” It reminds her of something. Fiction. A girl with red hair. “Is that not...a house?” she asks Steph.

“Right!” says Steph, her eyes widening. “Gable! It’s a part of a house? A wall? A roof? I’m not sure how to describe it, but there’s a triangle, I think.”

Nothing she says makes any sense to Cassandra at all. Triangle? Most roofs in Gotham are triangle-shaped. Skyscrapers don’t count, she’s pretty sure skyscrapers and gables don’t go together.

Stephanie must glean her confusion, because she laughs, spraying bi-coloured crumbs everywhere before she slaps a hand over her mouth, looking a little embarrassed. “I’ll show you when we’re back at the mansion,” she says, after swallowing her mouthful. “There’s no way there’s no gables on that monstrosity.”  

“Or we could Google it,” suggests Cassandra.

“Or that,” agrees Stephanie. She bites onto her bagel and pulls out her phone, only for it to go off buzzing and ringing in her hands.

_Boop boop bee boop_

In her pocket, Cassandra’s vibrates too.

They both stiffen. That’s a bat alert. Cassandra carefully wraps up her bagel in her napkin and stuff it in her pocket, even as she pulls her phone out of the other. Two messages from Oracle:

_Hostage GNB. Tim cptv._

Cassandra exchanges a look with Stephanie. What’s Tim doing at the Gotham National Bank? Isn’t he supposed to be at work?

_5 men. SAR. Want 5mil frm B._

“Well, good luck with that,” Stephanie mutters around her bagel. Not that Bruce wouldn’t pay it, but he’s currently off world with the Justice League. Dick could authorize payments but he’s not here either. Damian wouldn’t pay. Jason can’t. And Cass, why should she? Easier to go in and manage the situation themselves.

“Nearest place?” asks Steph. She crams the rest of her bagel into her mouth and fishes her keys out of her bag.

“Finger and Fifth,” Cassandra tells her. She has a small safehouse there, with suits and equipment for them both. Stephanie drives, taking her motorbike as fast through the streets as she can without drawing attention. Meanwhile Cassandra looks through the security feed Oracle’s streaming to the HUD in her helmet. Five men, all fairly well armed. There’s nothing Gotham-weird about them, no themes, no weird uniforms, and no strange movements or expressions that might hint at them being drugged or mind-controlled or something. One of the feeds shows Tim in a back office, tied to a chair. His back is turned to the camera, but the gunman guarding him is speaking. _Ransom_ something something _Wayne away_. The graininess of the video makes it harder to read his lips.

“So much for a day in the city, huh?” Stephanie says later as she’s changing into her Spoiler uniform. It’s an older version, the eggplant cape patched in places.

“We still have this evening. Before patrol.”

“Mmmyeah. I was just hoping we could like...hang in the park. Watch people. Make out a little and stuff.”

Cassandra presses a quick kiss to her lips before pulling her cowl over her head. _Raincheck_ , she signs. _Tomorrow_?

Stephanie reels her back in and plants another kiss square over the mask where her lips would be. “Deal.”  
  


* * *

 

They come up with a plan en route. They have some intel from Tim, who’s been signing at the camera even with his arms tied behind his back. There are just five men, and they don’t seem to be connected to any existing gang or supervillian. Which probably means that they’re in just as much danger as their hostages. Gotham’s criminals don’t like it when newbies muscle in on their turf.

Stephanie’s going to come in through the back to help Tim. Cassandra’s going to rescue the hostages. The GCPD have already been alerted to their presence thanks to Oracle.

Cassandra slips in through an air vent. Only she and Damian are small and light enough to fit in these anymore and the ones in the GNB are narrowed than most. It’s a tight squeeze, but she manages it, and drop quietly to the carpeted floor.

She immediately spots one gunman in the far corner, facing the door. Semi-automatic clamped under his arm, hand flexing nervously on the grip. She can tell he’s new. First hostage taking, maybe? They probably put him on lookout duty so he wouldn’t shoot the hostages out of nerves. Good. Maybe she’ll go a little easier on them. But first, he has to go down.

He’s too busy watching the doors to notice her come quietly down behind him. The most important thing is to prevent him from pulling the trigger, so her first move is approach him from the side so she can jam her thumb between the trigger and the guard. As predicted, his finger spasms on the trigger, and he’s taken off guard by the weapon misfire long enough for her stun him with a blow to the neck. Another strike, and he crumples limply to the floor. Cassandra wrestles the gun away from him and dismantles it, then quickly zipties his wrists and ankles. His balaclava becomes a gag, and she moves on. Three more. That’s not very many, not for Gotham. Amateurs maybe, like this one? She will find out soon enough.

The next one manages to put up a fight, bringing his gun up and firing several rounds at her before she can take him down. But he’s panicked, aims a bit too high, and most of the shots go wild, richocheting off the walls. Her earpiece crackles, but she cannot hear what’s being said. The civilians scream, flattening themselves against the floor and throwing themselves behind potted plants and benches. By the time the gunman’s recovered from his surprise enough to take proper aim, she’s already behind his line of sight. She brings up a knee to his solar plexus and he doubles over, wheezing. Still, he manages to slip free from her grasp when she tries to knock him out, and she’s forced to duck under a swing from his rifle before she can try again. Palm strike to the knee—crack—he crumples. She twists the gun from his hands and brings it down on the back of his neck—crack.

Down. But now the other gunman is here with his own weapon raised. Even under the tight weave of her suit, the hairs on the back of Cassandra’s neck stand—he has her in his line of sight. She has to go down too, and she throws herself behind the fallen body of the unconscious gunman.

Gunfire rattles over her head. She peeks up briefly to gage the trajectory of the batarang she’s already pulled from her belt, but suddenly the gunfire cuts off. A body slumps heavily to the floor.

“Holding out for a hero?” Spoiler asks.

“You needed more practice,” she says teasingly, but low enough that only her mouthpiece catches it. Spoiler chuckles, creating a strange dual echo as her voice rings out both through the room and in her earpiece.

Cassandra makes quick work ziptieing the unconscious gunman at her feet while Spoiler deals with the other one. The hostages are beginning to emerge from behind their makeshift shelters.

“They’re all down?” asks a frightened looking teenage girl.

“Yes,” says Spoiler reassuringly.

“There’s two—”

“We got them."

“Oh thank god,” says man. His white shirt is stained with sweat.

There’s an elderly lady slumped against a bench, her face pale as snow. Cassandra goes over to her, trying to move quickly, but not too suddenly. She’s breathing, but her pulse is thready. Cassandra snaps her fingers to catch Spoiler’s attention and signs _ambulance_. Spoiler nods, starts speaking lowly into her mouthpiece.

Minutes later, the doors burst open. Gotham PD rushes in, guns leading but quickly lowered as they take stock of the situation. A team of EMTs follow with a stretcher, and Cassandra waves them over. She allows them to take over the scene, giving the old woman’s hand a brief squeeze before she walks away.

The police go into the back rooms, and emerge with two more unconscious gunmen and Tim. He gives her a wan smile when he sees her. “Hey Batgirl.”

Cassandra nods at him. “Are you okay, Mr Drake?”

Tim grimaces, as she knew he would. “Tim, _please_. And I’m fine. It’s not my first time.” He waves off an EMT who tries to take a look at a bruise on his forehead. It’s not from the hostage-taking, Cassandra knows. He fell out of bed this morning. “It’s fine ma’am,” he tries to assure the sceptical looking woman. “It’s just a bruise.”

“You should still let them take a look at it,” Cassandra says. “And they want a statement.”

Tim sighs, and his hands move to his neck where his tie should have been. The space is of course empty; one of the men led out from the back had had his hands bound with it.

“Ugh, I liked that tie,” Tim says.

“Maybe you can ask for it back later.” She pats him on the arm, then gives him a little push to the door.

 

* * *

 

It’s evening, but since it’s summer the sun’s still pretty high in the sky. They’re in the park, lounging in the grass, making out. Stephanie’s looking very pleased with herself.

“Waddaya know,” she says, as presses a line of kisses down the center of Cassandra’s face. “Day out not completely ruined.”

Cassandra takes the opportunity to ask a question that’s been nagging her all day. “Is this...a date?”

“Um,” Stephanie looks a little caught off guard. “No?” In a rush, she adds, “Do you want it to be?”

Cassandra shakes her head. “Just checking. We’re just hanging, yes?”

“Yeah,” says Steph, laying down next to her, her head pillowed on her arm. “We can just hang out too, as a couple. It doesn’t always have to be dates.”

“So tomorrow...is a date?”

“Uh…” says Stephanie again, and then she brightens. “Yeah, why not? You wanted to go watch that new Spider-Man movie, yeah? We can do that!”

It sounds good to Cassandra. Even Damian has praised the movie. “It’s a date,” she says. She shifts a little closer so she can rest her head against Stephanie’s shoulder. Her girlfriend’s arm comes round and her hand threads itself through her hair. Cassandra closes her eyes and humms softly in pleasure. Between the sun and Stephanie, she’s warm all over, and it feels good. Really good.

 


End file.
